


Learning to Fly(again)

by NotTheOtherGuy



Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: Batfamily Feels, Cass is sassy, Cassandra Cain is Batgirl, F/F, First Kiss, One Shot, Roof kissing, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2020-05-14 22:52:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,505
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19282834
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NotTheOtherGuy/pseuds/NotTheOtherGuy
Summary: In which Harper is back in costume, and can't jump off a gargoyle from a bazillion feet up like all the other cool kids. Cass is there to give Harper the "push" she needs.





	Learning to Fly(again)

**Author's Note:**

> This is fueled by my desire to finish SOMETHING without taking a year, and Blue Mountain Dew.
> 
> Also because DC did my girl Harper dirty, and left her out of Detective Comics #1000

“…Scared.”

Harper looked up from the jump, indignant at her partner’s comment.

“I am _not_ scared, Cass. I’m just…charting my descent, if I miss.”

Scared wasn’t the right word. More like…terrified out of her freaking mind! It was just a 200-foot drop if she happened to be a little bit off. Three months of hitting the gym and CrossFit to actually fill out her costume, four months of Krav Maga to get back into the groove of things, and yet another month to get “Batman Field Certified”, and _this_ is what terrified her. A heart-stopping leap from one of the highest gargoyles on the side of one of the tallest towers in Old Gotham. _This_ is what gave her pause.

Although, it wasn’t _all_ bad. On upside, she had already concocted the blueprints to make it so her jacket could be converted into a minimalistic glider, and she was sure that Bruce would provide her with the resources needed. Thought it would mean the end of her lovingly customized, and oh-so-comfortable jacket. Unless she could make extendable glider wings from a shape memory polymer, make them retractable, and cut slits into her jacket. Hmm…

She’d have to save that idea for later.

The other upside?

_Cass_.

Wonderful, joyful, absolute cinnamon bun of the extended Batman Family, Cass. She’d been the one to sponsors Harper’s re-entry into crime-fighting, the one who had kicked her ass five ways to Sunday in the Bat-Bunker in her spare time, and the one who had _completely_ stolen Harper’s heart. And they were perched right up against each other on the thing ledge before the gargoyle. And the night was _just_ cold enough that Cass felt obliged to snuggle up against the recently-reborn Bluebird, making Harper’s heart run at a mile a minute.

It was much better than training with Damian.

He would have pushed her right off the building.

“…Totally scared.”

Harper just knew Cass was smirking under that stitched-up mask. There was no way she wasn’t.

And it made Harper want to kiss her even _more_ than usual, even if it was just through the mask. Why was a sassy Cassie so _cute_? Then again, she was never NOT cute. Even when she looked smug, she just had this adorable air to her. She was sure she’d heard Dick call Cass a “little bundle of badass” at one point, and it could not fit her more perfectly.

“…Alright, FINE. I maybe be a little fearful of the five hundred-”

“Two hundred.” Cass interjected

“ _Five_ -hundred-foot drop, should I miss, Cass. As much as it would rock if I was, I’m not you, Cass. Sometimes, other people need a _reason_ to jump.  And I’m working on mine.”

Cass tilted her head, confused.

Harper sighed, rubbing her temples.

“Forget it, it’s stupid.” She shook her head a few times, leaning against the wall and fighting the urge to slide down it. Cass paused, and put a hand onto Harper’s chest, right above her heart…which instantly started pounding at Mach 1, threatening to burst through her chestplate.

“You…you’ll.” Cass grunted under her breath and switched to Sign Language to properly convey her message.

“ _You’ll find your reason. After all, Bats and Birds are meant to fly._ ”

…As corny as that line was, Cassandra was right. It was inevitable. But for every reason she could think of why she _should_ jump; the logical part of her brain came up with ten reasons she _shouldn’t_. Most of the latter involved expensive jetpacks, Batplanes, and the like. 

At least she wasn’t talking in metaphors…yet. Dick did that surprisingly often, referring to himself as a mother hen, calling Damian a little chick, etc. It was weird. Like _Jason_ levels of weird, and that dude was tied with Tim as the resident family cryptid.

Maybe dying had something to do with it.

Harper shook herself out of her thoughts and peeked over the edge again…only to feel her face grow pale and proceeded to slam herself right back against the building a second later, shaking her head furiously.

“Nope. Nope, nope. Negatory! This building is too goddamn high for me, Cass.” Harper kept shaking her head, even as Cass pulled away to think. Even if she had served as Batman’s partner for the better part of two years, but dear _god_ she’d never had to do something like this.

Then…Cass clearly got herself on idea. She stepped out onto the gargoyle in front of Harper, making sure they were face to face.

“ _I have a plan. Hold still._ ” Cass signed slowly, waiting until Harper nodded in understanding.

What happened next, Harper would keep to herself for a long, long time. She’d later tell the boys how they’d spotted the Trigger Twins setting up a sting, leading to an extended chase. What _actually_ happened sent Harper into near-hysterics every time she thought back on it.

With both hands-on Harper’s shoulders, Cass pushed Harper right up against the wall again…

And kissed her. 

A quick kiss on the lips, with the Batgirl preventing skin contact, but still. A _kiss_ from the girl who stole your heart? The girl that consumed her thoughts? Harper was on cloud motherfucking nine, and actually took a minute to recover. And one her gaze focused she realized something. Y’know, besides the fact that Cass was adorable, and smiling behind her cowl.

Cass had also used that kiss to steal her lovingly crafted taser rifle, which was now being cradled under one of the martial artist’s arms.

“C…C-Cass? What are you doing with Enel?” Harper stuttered, her face feeling as if it was on fire, and was no doubt redder than Damian’s Redbird suit.

“ _The Sky Island arc sucked, by the way_.” Cass signed, slowly steeping back towards the edge of the gargoyle. Harper could almost feel the smugness radiating off Cass. It Made Harper want to kiss Cassandra again. And again. Just grab her, throw _her_ against the wall and-

Wait.

“That doesn’t answer my question.” Harper’s eyes narrowed a little bit, getting a sneaking suspicion about what she was up to.

“ _Catch me.”_

And with that, Cassandra Cain walked right off the gargoyle.

Harper could hear how many heartbeats it took for her body to snap into action. (It was thirteen, for the record.)

“That’s not even remotely fair!” Her scream was drowned out by the sounds of the city, and she doubted Cass would have cared even if she _had_ heard it.

Still. It _worked_.

Because before she even had a chance to think about the reasons _not_ to, Bluebird had taken flight. Once her brain finally got around to screaming logic at her, she was already flying through the air, looking for a bat-like figure clad in black and gold. And by the time she found her target, she’d already landed on the building opposite her launch point.

Sure her lower body was screaming, and yeah, she wanted to heave the sunflowers and peanut butter that acted as her lunch, but _she’d done it_. With no cape either! Edna Mode would be proud! After a short victory dance, Harper gave chase to Cassandra, who had a three-building head-start.

Harper wasn’t sure _how_ , but she managed to catch up to Cass within minutes, opting to tackle her, rather than tie her up. They were in someone’s rooftop garden, with plants and shrubbery all around…and perfectly hidden by some planters.

Though Cass was probably taking it easy on her, considering she didn’t get instantly knocked out and thrown off. Enel fell to the ground, and Harper managed to make the pin.

“Now. Was that your way of giving me a reason, Cass? Because I gotta say. _That was a pretty goddamn good reason_.” Harper grinned through her estimate, which only got a small shrug from Cass. But again…Harper could tell she was smirking. And she tore off Cass’s cowl, proving herself right.

“So, now that I’ve caught you…do you think I can have a _real_ kiss?” Cass rolled her eyes, and pulled Harper in for another kiss, sending butterflies though Harper’s system. She was on Cloud Nine all over again, and this time she wasn’t alone.

And she wouldn’t be alone for a long, long time.

* * *

 

Dick always said he’d learn to jump before he’d learned to walk. It was second nature to him.

Jason had remarked that making that leap of faith always gave him an adrenaline rush.

Tim? He’d made a horrible joke about pursuing knowledge, always on the other side of the chasm.

And Damian? He’d been born to jump, almost literally. The little leprechaun probably lived for it.

Harper had always thought that jumping had needed a reason. Catch the bad guy, break the record, save the day. Y’know, hero stuff.

_Nope!_

Turns out, all she needed was Cass. Adorable, badass, killer, _surprisingly good kisser_ , perfect Cass.

Bluebird flew again many, many times after that. But her favourite moments were always when Batgirl would fly right beside her.


End file.
